Group working to lift North Little Rock pit bull ban

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Hundreds of pet owners in North Little Rock are fighting to have pit bulls and other banned breeds allowed in the city.

This month they plan to start collecting signatures in an effort to reverse the ban on specific breeds. In 2005, the city completely banned any bully breed dogs, but now one group thinks if they can get 2,000 signatures, the city council may side with them on the issue.

One pet owner, Jill Walker, got a notice in June telling her she had to get rid of her dog from her North Little Rock home because she looked pit bull.

“Animal services came to our house and we had two days to get rid of our dog," said Walker.

Since then, Walker has been working with hundreds of people to reverse the ban on the Facebook Page: Repeal BSL in NLR.

“We’re a normal family and we have been torn apart and our dog ripped away from us," said Walker. “We’ve gotten a huge response from the pet community in North Little Rock. I never realized how many people were against the ban.”

To lift the ban, they need a city council member to sponsor legislation that the council would then vote on. They want something more like what the city of Little Rock has in place, a potentially dangerous breeds ordinance requiring pit bull dog owners to register the dog; that includes a photo, micro chipping, a $150 fee, and a mandatory fence.

CREDIT: KTHV

“She’s never caused any problems, she’s never bit anybody, she’s not aggressive, she’s a house dog," said Walker.

Several city council members said over the phone this will be a difficult task to complete since the reason the ban was adopted in the first place was because of pit bull attacks. They said that they will need a clear community want for this repeal.

“The first thing is going to be getting a lot of signatures and showing them that the community is interested in changing it, that it’s not just a handful of people," said Walker.